A FIRE at a takeaway in Weston took hours to extinguish, even though fire officers were present at the scene.

Moslek Uddin had to wait hours for a fire to be dowsed outside the back of his restaurant.

A wheelie bin caught alight on Aller Parade, at the back of Chutneys takeaway on the Oldmixon estate on June 6.

The fire was among a spate of ‘suspicious’ fires that have broken out on the Oldmixon.

Bruton House in Monkton Avenue first blazed just after midnight on May 31.

Then, days later on June 6 there was a fire at the skate park in Aller Parade at about 10pm, followed by one at the Corston garages in Brompton Road at 12.30am.

Mr Uddin was made aware of the fire by a resident of the flat above the takeaway at 2.15am.

However, it was close until 5am before the fire crew could extinguish the fire.

Mr Uddin said: “I came running down the road and by then the fire engines were at the scene.

“I think someone had set the dustbin on fire, which was overflowing with rubbish anyway.

“It is a chip shop and there is a lot of oil and if that goes up then the whole building would set on fire

Fire crews could only control the fire from spreading, but not actually extinguish it, for fear of igniting the gas.”

A spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews were initially called to a fire involving a wheelie bin, but when firefighters arrived they found the fire also involved an external gas main.

“The low pressure gas main was ruptured, with gas burning off.

“Firefighters took immediate action to control the fire and evacuate residents from their homes.

“With fires of this type, involving burning gas, our standard procedure is to allow a small, controlled fire to burn, until the gas supply can be turned off.

The firefighters had to wait for a gas specialist to come to the scene to safely turn off the gas.

Avon Fire and Rescue said: “Although we could have extinguished the gas fire, we would then have been faced with the more dangerous situation of an uncontrolled gas leak and the very real risk of a gas explosion.